Tag: content creation

Content marketing is no longer optional. Any company with a website can benefit from content marketing. With the current importance of social business practices, high-quality content is rewarded with a social media spotlight, amplified exposure and increased lead generation and conversion. All content types are important—including tweets, blog posts, webinars, SlideShare presentations, infographics and premium content, such as whitepapers and ebooks. Social engagement is paramount. Whether it is a LinkedIn update, a reply to a Facebook comment or a long-form blog post, attention to detail and quality is essential. Social media success happens when top-notch content creation and true engagement converge. In fact, real marketing success of any kind calls for excellent content.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing can be broken down into three major categories: original social content creation, social content curation and social engagement.

1. Original Social Content Creation

What is social content? It is content that is created, curated or part of a social media dialogue. We have all heard the phrase: “Content is king.” However, not all content is created equal. You need to publish content with real-time relevance and rich in information, which strikes the right chord with your social audience and target market. MarketingProfs CEO Ann Handley explains: “Content isn’t just another channel. It’s a mindset. It’s not new, but instead, technology and social tools and platforms have created new opportunities, which continue to evolve, and afford us new ways to respond to customers and communicate with them.”

Numerous content types can be utilized to promote your company on social media. Not all your social content must to be created from scratch. If you have a vast inventory of company content, including blog posts, video and premium content going back years, you may be able to update and repurpose relevant content to share on all your social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.

Perform an audit of all your original content.

Analyze your social media data and content curation history to determine which content types and topics performed best on each social network, and then tailor your social content strategy accordingly.

Use your findings to create a social content style guide; use it as a framework for all future content created for social media.

2.Social Content Curation

Social content curation done right entails the discovery, curation and sharing of relevant, industry-leading content across at least the big four social networks—Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. If you are committed to going social, a company presence on these major social networks is a minimum requirement. However, just having social media profiles is not enough. Smart social content curation is valuable to others and can help you attract a more significant social following and magnify lead generation.

There are plenty of great resources for the discovery content to share on social media, such as Klout, Topsy and Tweepi. Syndication websites like Social Media Today and Business 2 Community are highly useful digital destinations for finding fresh writing talent and the content best suited for your social content curation.

3. Social Engagement

Genuine social engagement is essential. When someone shares your content, always reply with a personalized message to thank him or her. When questions are asked, answer them with deep industry insight and authority—showcasing your thought leadership. Following these practices will promote greater engagement, augment your industry influence and help you get recognized as an industry thought leader.

Without high-quality content creation, you will not be able to build social capital, and your company will suffer as a result. Highly shareable content, smart social content curation and genuine engagement could dramatically amplify your reach and dramatically boost lead generation and conversion.

Content marketing has revolutionized the way marketers, companies and organizations of all types generate interest, reach their audiences and convert prospects. Successful content creation now calls for more than traditional SEO tactics and a focus on run-of-the-mill industry topics. The quality and social capital of content has taken on paramount importance. To attain a high-traffic website and booming business operations, you need to produce unique, cutting-edge, captivating and yet still highly relevant content. Substance matters. While high-impact, exciting topics may boost your visibility initially, information-rich content jam-packed with deep industry insight will win you long-time blog subscribers and frequent website visitors. [Continue reading on Social Media Today.]